From the Ground Up
by DharmaMotorPool
Summary: Post-Mockingjay. Effie decides to get rid of her selfish past and rebuild her life.


Her apartment looked just as it always had. A place for everything and everything in its place; that's the way she had always liked it. Now, despite the various knick-knacks, lavish furniture, and brightly painted walls adorned with artwork, the place simply felt empty.

It hadn't changed, and yet it felt altogether different; or perhaps she was the one who had changed. She supposed it was the latter. Having her victors sent back into that death trap had been bad enough, but after that - being captured herself, imprisoned, forced to listen to the screams of people she cared about - it was too much to bear.

When she'd said goodbye to Katniss before coming back "home", the two-time arena survivor had commented that Effie looked different. She'd asked if Effie would be all right, and of course, the former escort had put on a smile and assured Katniss that she would be just fine, but she wasn't sure exactly how true that statement had been.

She knew, of course, that she'd had it easy in comparison to the others, like Peeta and Johanna, but the entire experience as a whole had disheartened her considerably. On top of it all, when she'd finally been rescued and brought to District 13, Coin had attempted to have her executed. Luckily, Plutarch and Haymitch were on her side.

Haymitch.

He was another matter, entirely. When he'd seen her, bruised and frail, no makeup, no wig, no fancy clothes, she had been embarrassed, but he hadn't seemed to mind the way she looked. In fact, he had hugged her - really hugged her - for the first time since she'd known him. He had almost seemed...proud.

That was part of what made the decision she currently faced so much easier. She was going to get rid of it. All of it. What did it matter if she wore the most outlandish outfits, or had the most expensive wigs, or the most fashionable makeup? There were far more important things to concern herself with now - rebuilding the districts, for instance.

She began by gathering her old clothes and finding the most practical pieces - she'd only need a few things for the moment. A skirt or two, a pair of pants, a few shirts, a jacket, and flat shoes. She packed them away, then piled all the rest onto her floor. Time to destroy. Time to change. Time to shed her cocoon and emerge a butterfly.

She chose the butterfly dress she'd worn to the Quell reaping first, and began by cutting one butterfly away and attaching it to a hair pin, which she then used to hold back her hair while she worked. One by one, she tore the dresses apart and stuffed their tattered remains into the garbage chute, where they would later be incinerated.

Strangely, rather than a sense of loss, Effie felt an immense rush of relief. She had successfully shed the shell of her former self. Now, she could write her own story. Now, she could start over. She could be anything. It was at once the most liberating and terrifying thing she'd ever felt.

_TEN WEEKS LATER; DISTRICT 12_

Haymitch had been doing some heavy drinking in the last few weeks, mostly to make up for what he had been deprived of since the rebellion began. It had taken a while for him to feel like he could face Katniss and Peeta again, but he had done it, and they'd begun work on a book dedicated to the memory of everyone they'd lost along the way.

That day, he'd heard that the new school was finally finished, and was to be dedicated to the three District 12 victors, as well as to the memory of Katniss's sister. The three of them were, of course, expected to be there for the dedication ceremony, and so Katniss and Peeta had come over to rouse him from his drunken haze and get him to the school on time.

Peeta gave a short speech on their behalf, since he was the best with words, and the ceremony concluded rather quickly. From his place at the front of the crowd while Peeta spoke, however, Haymitch had noticed a beautiful woman with sparkling blue eyes and a full head of blonde hair. She was beaming at the three of them, as if she knew-

_Wait a second,_ he thought to himself, doing a double-take. _It can't be._ He imagined her in heavy makeup and a wig. _Effie_. Once the crowd began to disperse and mingle, Haymitch pushed his way through them until he reached her. "What are you-I didn't know you'd be here," he commented.

Effie smiled, "I've been helping rebuild the school. You don't think it's just a coincidence that it happened to be dedicated to you three and Primrose, do you?"

"You-look different," he said, "Better. It's good, it suits you better than those wigs and all the-stuff," he said, gesturing to indicate her face.

"I _feel_ different," she told him. "I just thought that since I'm no longer an escort, I should find something a bit more meaningful to do with my time."

"Well, looks like it agrees with you."

"Yes," she said, "I-well, they asked me if I'd like to teach here. Peeta and Katniss think it's a good idea, and I think it might be a good way to make a new start."

"You mean-move here? You, live in twelve?"

She chuckled, "I know, I know. It's not what I thought I would ever want to do, either, but-these last few weeks, I've been happy again, and I feel like I'm finally doing something right. I-all the years I spent sending children to their deaths-I want to do something to be-better. I know I can't make up for it, but I just-"

"I think you're doing a fine job making up for it," he interrupted, wrapping his arms around her in another one of those all-consuming, really _real_ hugs. "I think having you here-it would be good. You know, for the kids," he said, trying (and failing) to be nonchalant.

"Oh, of course," she agreed with a small grin. "I thought so, too."

"Are you-okay?" he asked, remembering how fragile she'd seemed the last time he'd seen her.

"Yes," she answered confidently. "Are you?"

"I will be," he replied.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. Effie and Haymitch spent more and more time together, until finally, they both agreed that it would make much more sense for her to live with him than in the small house they had provided her with.

And so it was; the years went on, and the four of them grew closer. They began with rebuilding the physical world around them, and in the midst of all that, wound up rebuilding one another, as well.


End file.
